


Where Are the Broken Hearts?

by Acacieae



Series: Vignettes Collection: From Undiscovered Countries [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Force Ghost Couple, Gen, M/M, ObikinShipper!Luke, POV Third Person, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2016-10-18
Packaged: 2018-08-23 05:38:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8315938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Acacieae/pseuds/Acacieae
Summary: Luke asks Ben Kenobi why his father fell to the dark side. Ben admits that he used to believe the “why” wasn’t important, but now…It is a lesson which will one day come back to haunt Luke.





	

Ironic, given how difficult their arrival had been, that the journey from the Ewok village to the Empire’s outpost on the forest moon of Endor was turning out to be a walk in the park.

Literally.

In the days of the Republic, it had been known as the “Sanctuary Moon,” set aside in perpetuity as a nature preserve by a special act of the Galactic Senate. Residents of urban planetscapes such as Coruscant used to come here in the thousands each year to enjoy the unspoiled arboreal beauty and diverse wildlife. Although tourism had fallen off sharply once the Empire had tightened restrictions on interplanetary travel, the place still had undeniable, enduring appeal.

Even at night, the temperature was pleasantly warm. Gentle, humid breezes rocked ancient branches, the intoxicating scent of night-blooming flowers wafted through the air, and nocturnal creatures called out to each other in discordant chorus. Bioluminescent insects and patches of phosphorescent moss cast dim, ghostly light.

And deep within the leafy canopy, hidden from prying Human eyes, the Endor moon’s natives had constructed a vast network of elevated bridges and walkways. Hundreds of square kilometers of forest were connected by these thoroughfares, most wide enough for two or more beings to walk abreast. Luke Skywalker didn’t even need to use the Force to find his way—he just followed the trail signs carved into tree trunks at every intersection.

The one for the Imperial base was a circle trisected into three wedges of equal size. It looked a bit like a _Lambda_ -class shuttle in full flight mode. The lines were stained over with red to indicate “danger.”

He hadn’t felt any immediate danger, though, and decided to eat as he walked. Upon learning of his imminent departure, the Ewoks had provided him with a parcel containing a handful of dried berries and tree nuts and six thin strips of smoked mystery meat. Luke eyed the meat dubiously for a few moments but decided that he couldn’t afford to be choosy. It would be necessary to keep his strength up for the confrontation soon to follow.

“Better not be stormtrooper,” he muttered to himself between bites.

“Most fortunately not. Some indigenous creature which lives on the forest floor, I believe. Blameless but non-sentient.”

“Ben!” Luke exclaimed, unable to conceal his surprise.

The blue-tinged apparition of Ben Kenobi fell into easy step beside Luke. They had not spoken since Yoda’s passing on Dagobah, and that particular conversation had not ended on the best of terms. Luke had been rather less than impressed by Ben’s idea of the truth.

“I gave up meat years ago,” Ben remarked conversationally. “Some of my best friends on Tatooine were banthas.”

Luke laughed in spite of himself, imagining Ben in among a herd of the hairy, long-horned quadrupeds, and then immediately felt a sharp stab of guilt. He knew now that _he_ was a big part of the reason why Ben had had only banthas for friends.

“I’m sorry, Ben,” he said. “For everything. But I can’t do it. I can’t kill my own father. Not while there’s still good in him.”

“I know what you feel, Luke. The problem is that the good in him might not matter.” For a moment, Ben’s eyes seemed far away, his expression haunted. More stories from long ago, more secrets that he would not see fit to share.

Luke decided to try asking anyway. “Why did my father fall to the dark side?”

“The why is not important—” Ben began.

“But—”

“—or so I told myself for many years,” he continued as if he had not noticed the interruption. “Now, though, I wonder. The long and short of it? Anakin Skywalker fell because he loved too much.”

“‘Loved too much’…? Is that supposed to be a joke?!” Luke gaped. The half-eaten parcel of food dropped from his hand, forgotten.

Ben came to a halt so quickly that Luke actually had to stop walking and turn around to look back. What he saw nearly broke his heart: Ben was a veritable portrait of desolation, shoulders drooping, brow furrowed, mouth twisted with the pain of festering, soul-deep wounds.

“I’m afraid it’s true, Luke. Your father turned to the darkness for the sake of love, and love has kept him there.”

“No, I can’t accept that,” Luke said, shaking his head vehemently. As an explanation, no matter how vague, it was intolerable. Unthinkable. “Love is what saves us; love is _everything_.”

“If only it were that easy. Sometimes love is not enough,” Ben whispered.

Now _that_ seemed significant somehow. So Ben’s love hadn’t been enough to save Anakin from the dark side? Was that what he meant? If true, it must have been utterly devastating for Ben. No wonder he was still grieving from beyond Death’s Veil. Or was this Ben’s roundabout way of warning him about something important? Luke did his level best to puzzle it out.

“Leia told me once that Vader tortured her ‘for love of the Emperor.’ Those were her words. Is that it? Does my father love the Emperor?” he asked at last.

Ben wouldn’t meet his gaze. It was answer enough.

Luke felt his resolve harden. Emperor Palpatine was a despot, architect of untold suffering and death throughout the galaxy, while the eccentric but gentle Ben Kenobi had been there for him when said suffering and death had shown up at Luke’s literal door. If it hadn’t been for Ben, one naïve, nineteen-year-old farm boy would have been lost. It was a debt that he had never even tried to repay.

Until now.

Only one of those two men had ever deserved Anakin’s love.

“I’ll bring him back, Ben—I promise.” Luke vowed. “And maybe…” he added, that farm boy shyness creeping into his voice, “maybe then he’ll appreciate you like he should have.”

Ben smiled sweetly at those words, although they did not quite banish the melancholy from his eyes. He stepped forward to press a soft kiss to Luke’s cheek. It was no ordinary touch: A tingling, low-frequency vibration seemed to shoot through his body, trailing soothing warmth in its wake. Luke closed his eyes reflexively in pleasure at the sensation.

When he opened them, Ben was gone.

_< Thank you. Be safe. And may the Force be with you.>_

The words were a rustle of leaves, a lonely sigh on the wind.

***

Alone on his windswept little island, Luke felt Han Solo, his best friend, die.

Han’s son—Luke’s one and only nephew—had killed him.

As a child on Tatooine, where every drop of water had been precious, he would have been told to save his tears for the living. But here on Ahch-To, with its near-endless expanse of salty oceans in every direction, he might as well drown himself in his sorrows. No one would know the difference.

Oh, but the three of them had been so happy—so very, very happy and filled with hope—when he had been born. No child had ever been more wanted, more precious, more beloved. He had even been named after that old hermit whose unwavering commitment to justice for the galaxy had brought them together as a family. And yet in the end he had still forsaken Luke and the path of the Jedi; he had chosen to follow Snoke into the darkness.

_Sometimes love is not enough._

No, love hadn’t been enough. His love, even Han and Leia’s love, they had all failed.

And who was left to bring Ben Solo back to them now?

The storm rolled in suddenly, as if in response to his grief. The blue horizon turned an ominous, durasteel gray, and then with a deafening crash of thunder, the sky opened. His robes were soaked through in seconds. Jagged forks of lightning danced between roiling clouds and whitecapped waves, close enough to strike the land, but Luke would not be turned away from his vigil. Instead, he threw his arms wide and tilted his face upwards, seeming to court the chaos, to embrace it.

“Father. Ben. Where are you?! Why won’t you come to me?!” A desperate cry into the onrushing gale, rain lashing his skin.

He waited for nearly an hour, but the roar of the thunderstorm was the only reply.

“ _I need you_ …” His final words, in a brokenhearted whisper, as night fell and the storm receded into the west.

With nowhere else to go, Luke returned to the place that had, for all intents and purposes, become his home on this lonely, desolate planet. It was reasonably commodious but boasted no real amenities, and he had no energy to light a fire or prepare an evening meal. He merely stripped out of his soaked robes, which fell carelessly to the floor with a wet plop, and crawled naked into the narrow sleeping alcove. Shivering fiercely beneath thin blankets, he squeezed his eyes shut. Even more tears began to fall.

Two indistinct figures wreathed in luminous blue stepped out from the shadows. As they approached, their features seemed to take on more definition. The first, a kindly old man with a neatly-trimmed beard, knelt down beside Luke’s prone form and rested one hand on his forehead. With the other hand, he beckoned. The second apparition, broad-shouldered and almost boyishly handsome, hesitated self-consciously for a moment before taking up an identical position on Luke’s opposite side. Then, together, as one, they embraced him, spinning gossamer threads of energy around and between them until he was wrapped in a cocoon of warm, shimmering light.

He stopped shivering.

They stayed until dawn, but Luke could not see them.

 

END

**Author's Note:**

> (1) “Some of my best friends on Tatooine were banthas.” – See Marvel _Star Wars #20_.
> 
> (2) “Leia told me once that Vader tortured her ‘for love of the Emperor.’” – See _Bloodline_ by Claudia Gray.
> 
> (3) The characters in this story also appear in “[That Sleep of Death, What Dreams May Come](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7731400),” “[What Dwells in Us](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10237940),” and the rest of the stories in the [From Undiscovered Countries Vignettes Collection](http://archiveofourown.org/series/563048). The discussion had here between Luke and Ben is especially closely tied to the events of Chapter 4 in “Sleep of Death.” However, your basic understanding and enjoyment (or lack thereof) of any of these stories shouldn’t be affected by not having read any of the others. For convenience, I have created an AO3 collection for all of these loosely interconnected stories [here](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/Star_Wars_Undiscovered_Countries).


End file.
